Astrology
by Henry Velez; Editor

INTRO:
Astrology (not to be confused with astronomy, the scientific study of space, stars & planets) has ancient origins going back before the time of Christ. This alone is not what makes it either valid or invalid as a belief system which so may people either rely upon or give slight credence to. No, rather at it's root the essential contradiction astrology has against the position of the Bible is in it's use as a replacement or supplement for directly seeking God in counsel.

BIBLICAL POSITION:

Concerning what man is to do regarding the seeking of counsel superior to his own, the Bible instructs as follows;

Ps 55:22
22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. 
Nahum 1:7
7 The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, 
1 Pet 5:6-7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 

The clear instruction here being that man is to look to God in times of need, stress and trouble for guidance and care. As to seeking other forms of consultation through the divination (interpretation) of creation, the Bible has the following to say;

Deut 18:9-12
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 

Dan 2:10-12
10 The astrologers answered the king, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer.
11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men."
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 

Jer 10:2-5
2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." 

Isa 44:24-25
24 "This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, 

So then it becomes clear what God's position is towards astrology, as stated from the Bible. But let us further look at astrology from a point of reasoning. 

POINT OF REASON:

"As above, so below." If astrology had any credo it could be summed up in this phrase. For all it's practices and principles are governed by the assumption that the orientation of the planets and stars above somehow correlate precisely to the activities of nations and individuals here on earth. 

First, in order for this to be true, the law of entropy would indicate that such 'order' does not come about from 'chaos' unless intelligent force is applied. The only such force the Bible states caused such order is God Himself. Only He could decide to make such an arrangement wherein interpretation of the planetary movements, though finely organized, also had some sort of ability to tell of earthly events and persons.
However the problem with this is that (a) as seen above, God is directly opposed to such an arrangement an (b) nowhere is there any systematic and precise approach to discerning events or personalities or futures based upon observation of heavenly bodies. Granted, there are those among the astrological community who claim there is some form of approach to their practice.. but it is neither uniform nor reliable.

Secondly, There is no distinguishable relation of 'cause' and 'effect' shown between that which occurs up to several million light years away (stars) and the events or personalities occuring on earth. Considering that astrology has been essentially a subjective practice since several hundred years B.C., and taking into account that the discovery of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto weren't discovered until after 1781 A.D., it would be plainly obvious that any such astrology was being done in error for more than two thousand years due to lack of knowledge of these three planetary factors.

'Cause & Effect'; 

When a ball flies through the air and shatters through a pane of glass, it can be said that the impact of the ball is the cause to the shattering effect of the glass. Casual observation and the laws of physics will both attest to the ball being the cause of the shattering. Astrology relies heavily upon overlooking this law. 

For astrology states, in essence, that the sort of day a person will have is directly influenced by the relative location of large objects several trillion miles away. It states that a person's personality is defined by the location of planets and stars at one's birth, thus creating one's "astrological sign" to which certain attributes of patience, temper, wisdom, etc. are defined. Yet no correlation has ever been shown to reasonably convince that (a) the stars/planets are the cause which result in (b) the effect upon people's lives or futures.. much less what sort of day they will face. 

It would be just as accurate (or inaccurate) to devise a system which says a person's personality traits are determined by the position of airplanes and helicopters overhead at the time of conception. For at least then the timing, conception, is closer to the time of forming the person and the objects are trillions of miles closer than any star overhead. Aspiring parents could forward radar results of overhead aircraft from the nearest airport terminal at the exact time of conception to the practitioner of "airplane astrology" and determine if the baby would be the next Einstein or Hitler based upon the flight patterns. Astrology relies upon just this sort of principle.

Thirdly, a lack of consistency. If there were any credibility to astrology it would show in it's results. Let us look at the supposed astrological signs. There are twelve which cover every day of the year for the day a person is born. They are each given names such as, say Aquarius, if you are born near the months of January/February. With each sign comes a list of supposed personality attributes as well as 'conforming' and 'non-conforming' relationships between the signs. (Aquarius mates well with Virgo, but Virgo not with Taurus, etc.)

If this were true we would find that by filling a room with people who were all born under the sign of Cancer to be of overwhelming similarly shared attributes. Astrology does not say they will all be identical, but does say they will all be of the same personality attributes significant to their sign. Yet such a gathering would clearly show no consistency any more so than a gathering of people who all had names beginning with the letter 'W'. There would be the same randomness as any other group gathering.

Finally, there is the issue of selective-observation. There is no doubt many who adhere to astrology will give testimony to how an astrological reading showed itself true and reliable in many cases. They could even document the readings as having been determined before the event. But upon further investigation it can also be found that improper and subjective observation, done selectively, is what produced such a list.

As an example, a person could become convinced that every time they sneeze twice in a row.. it begins to rain within a week. They could even tell you of many instances in which their observations proved to be true. However what they would be overlooking is the fact that many other times they had sneezed twice, and it didn't rain. Or the many times it did rain, despite the fact they hadn't sneezed twice. In addition they may be overlooking the fact that they tend to get the cold or flu (producing the double-sneeze) in the winter season... which is also when it tends to rain in their area.

Given enough devotion to reading one's astrological forecast every day, eventually out of pure randomness, something is bound to be interpreted as a correct forecast. As the old saying goes, "Even a broken watch can tell the correct time twice daily." (This was before digital clocks, by the way.) Fortune cookies have the same probability. The person who reads his fortune cookie paper every day is bound to find fulfillment of several, while ignoring or forgetting the majority which did not produce such effect.

SUMMATION:

From both a theological and reasonable standpoint there is absolutely no motivation to give credence to an ancient practice which has been inaccurate since day-1. To do so is to fly bold facedly both against the express direction of God and the plain-faced reality of reasonable observation.